That spot has been well and truly snaffled by No 2 Son who has trekked to Base Camp at Mt Everest and over several other mountain passes in Nepal in the last 11 days.
A video link up from the Roof of the World showed him in high spirits after achieving his goal, albeit 8kg lighter after 11 days on the go up in the rarified air.
They say the thin air does things to your brain cells.
I would say that’s a pretty much bang on assertion because when I spoke to him I mentioned the fact he was celebrating reaching the “bottom of the top” – which Everest Base Camp is if you really think about it – and he looked completely flummoxed.
Maybe by the time he gets back some oxygen will have returned to his brain and he’ll have figured it out.
He may also have to contend with a claim from Mrs P suggesting the many thousands of steps she did the other day (according to the gadget she wears on her wrist) are a far more noteworthy achievement than his given her, er, “vintage” and current physical condition.
A quick aside here, she won’t actually allow me to reveal exactly how many steps she did on this particular day for fear of being ridiculed by the readership.
Now because I like my coffee in the morning just right – and I don’t want to find my favourite boxers have suffered a laundry “mishap” and have had the crotch ripped out of them – I am only permitted to say it is five figures in the thousands.
For me, the truly remarkable feature of her claim is that these steps seem to have been completed during a marathon “mother of the groom” wedding dress try-on session where the distance travelled was maybe 263cm to the full length mirror and then back to the changing room each time she tried on a new outfit.
And if that sounds surprisingly accurate, I should know. I was slumped in a chair one pace away, getting cramp, for the entire performance.
I’m sure some of you blokes will be able to relate, particularly when I mention going on “auto pilot” and the phrases “No. Your bum does not look big in that” and “Yes. You look amazing”. I’m sure you are equally aware no matter how many times you mutter them with conviction, neither phrase is ever accepted as the truth by the other party.
Anyway.
So that’s two major performances of note for our lot this week.
The third worth mentioning is the efforts of our two Australian domiciled granddaughters who have excelled on the athletics field and in the kitchen this week.
She picked up a couple of second place ribbons for her efforts at her school sports but blew her parents away with her culinary abilities by whipping up a ham, cheese and tomato omelette after stumbling across an old cookbook in an op shop.
Literally first go. She’s now talking about cooking as a career.
It is safe to say granddad has already booked a seat for the first available table if that should eventuate. Likewise, if she should decide next week to become an astronaut, granddad will be there to support.
The other transplanted Kiwi grandchild, Miss Five, has discovered she has winged feet and picked up four first place ribbons in the sprints at the same sports as her sister.
She hadn’t previously realised she had such impressive wheels but now, according to her parents, is running everywhere. Fast.
Back in good old NZ, our family’s run of success this week was never better illustrated by Master Two Next Week who came running out to greet me when I turned up for a visit the other day.
Taking me by the hand he led me inside to the lavatory and pointed proudly into the toilet bowl.
I’m sure you’ll understand, at almost aged 2, his command of the English language is still a work in progress but I gathered from the smile on his face and the equally proud grin of his sister, Miss Four Soon, he’d succeeded in, er, shall we say, using the facilities in a seated fashion for the first time.
As I offered my congratulations he came out with a jumble of words which I simply couldn’t understand at all.
Thankfully his sister seems to understand every word and she translated. As they do at that age.
“He’s done a poo and he wants you to take a picture of it,” she said.
